An author whose much-loved books chart his passion for Bromley FC is experiencing success to match his side’s on-pitch exploits.

Dave Roberts’ new book Home and Away: Round Britain in Search of Non-League Football Nirvana follows the Lillywhites’ last season, playing at the highest level in their 124-year history.

Roberts, who was born in the borough but now lives in Leeds, pitched Home and Away to publishers as soon as Bromley got promoted at the end of the 2014/15 campaign.

He told us: “I just moved back to England last May after 35 years away.

“I’ve lived in New Zealand and then America and finally moved home and it coincided with the greatest ever season in Bromley’s history. It seemed a very good way of rediscovering the country and having an excuse to watch Bromley.

“The home games are quite a trek. It’s about an eight hour or nine hour day but it is usually worth it.”

The remarkable season certainly came with plenty of high points, none more so than the lengthy away trip to Torquay in September where Bromley stunned the Gulls in a 7-3 victory.

Roberts said: “It was a last-minute decision to go because it’s a seven hour journey, and it was the best I have ever seen a Bromley team play.

“It was like watching Barcelona that day. Seriously. They scored seven times against Torquay United, who are a much more famous club than Bromley. It was breathtaking to watch.”

Away from the pitch, writing the book went fairly smoothly thanks to Roberts’ new-found friends on the terrace.

Non-League football attracts a different crowd to the Premier League big boys and for Roberts that was part of the appeal. It is the same thing that draws in readers beyond Bromley FC fans.

He said: “It was relatively easy once I decided that football wasn’t always about what happened on the pitch.

“They have an army of insane fans at Bromley and 70 to 100 that will go to every game, in every weather, wherever it is, and getting to know them is what the book became.

“It became about the family feel that there is every time you go and watch Bromley. It changed from beginning to middle quite spectacularly. At the start it was all football.”

He added: “I have got very lucky because the group of fans I stand with are very eccentric types. Non-League attracts a certain type of person. They are very funny. So I got fed a lot of good material without having to do anything except writing down what people had to say.

“I hope they will enjoy it. A lot of them are on the cover so I am hoping they will be flattered by that. I think they all come across pretty well.

“Hopefully people will want to go and watch Bromley with them.”

Bromley FC is getting behind the release of Home and Away, with a launch party at the Raven’s Bar at Hayes Lane from 6.30pm on August 25.

The book’s publication also coincides with Roberts’ popular 2008 release The Bromley Boys – which recalled their worst-ever season of 1969/70 – being made into a coming-of-age feature film starring Jonathan Creek actor Alan Davies.

Roberts has not been involved in writing the script for the adaptation, which he said will be markedly different from his book, but is excited about seeing his creation – and a version of himself – on the big screen.

He said: “It was a very personal book for me. That season there were so many bad memories, football-wise. It was the worst season any team has ever had in the history of football, it felt like that.

“I really enjoyed it because it was my first season watching football regularly and, again, getting to know the people.

“There were fewer people watching Bromley in those days. You would get gates of 30 or 40. You kind of knew everyone in the crowd by the end of the season.

“I hope they do it justice. Capturing the late 1960s/ early 1970s is not an easy thing. I really like the script. It is really sweet and funny, so I am quite hopeful.”

Home and Away: Round Britain in Search of Non-League Football Nirvana by Dave Roberts is out August 25. Find out more at daverobertsbooks.com

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